Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-05-21

DcyOuu tne CD IuuCo 10 tue cave. UP tno ctV0
I went, and after me came the others, and
after them Numbered the whole crowd OF
cannibals, mad with fury at the death Of the
woman. With bound cleared the pros
trate form of Mahomed As flew over him
! felt the heat from the red hot pot, which
was lying close by, strike upon my legs, and
by its GLOW saw his hands-for no was not
quite dead-still feebly moving. At the top
of the cave WINS little platform Of rock three
feet or SO high by about eight deep, on which
two large lamps were placed at night
Whether this platform had been left as q
seat, or as q raised point afterward to DO cut
away when It had served its purpose as a
standing place from which TO carry on the
excavations, l do not know-at least did not
then. At any rate we oil three reached 1t,
and jumping on 1t, prepared TO sell our lives
rs dearly as we could For a few minutes
the crowd that was pressing on our heels
hung Lack when they saw us face round pnop
them. Job was ON one side of the rock to tho
left, Leo in the center and TO the right. Be
hind us were the lamps Leo bent forward
and looked down the long lane of shadows,
terminated in the fire and lighted lamps,
through which the quiet forms of cur would
be murderers fitted to and fro, with tho faint
light glinting on their spears, for even their
fury was silent as a bulldogs The only other
thing visible was the red hot pot still glowing
angrily in the gloom. There was a curious
light in Leos eyes, and his handsome face
was set like stone. In his right hand was
his heavy hunting knife. He shifted its thong
little up his wrist and then put his arm
round me and gave me good hug
"Good-by, old fellow" he said; "my dear
friend-my more than father. We have no
chance against those scoundrels; they win fin
ish US in q few minutes and eat us afterwhrd,
/ suppose. Good-by. / led you into this !
hopo you win forgive me. Good-by, job"
Goods will be done,n l said, setting my
teeth, as prepared for the end. At that mo-
ment, with an exclamation, Job lifted his re-
volver and fired, and hit q man-not the man
he had aimed at, by the way; anything that
Job shot at was perfectly safe.
On they came with rush, and / fired too,
Us fast as could, and checked thein-between
US, Job and killed or MORALLY wounded five
men with our pistols before they were
emptied, besides the soman But we had no
time to reload, and they still came on in a
way that was almost splendid in Its reckless
|
we could go on firing forever.
A great follow bounded up upon the plat
form and Leo struck him dead with one blow
Of his powerful arm. sending the knife right
| through him. did the same by another, but
job missed his stroke, and saw brawny
Amahagger grip him by the middle and whirl
him Off tho rock. The knife, not being Sc
cured by thong, fell from his hand as he did
so, and, by most happy accident for Job,
| lighted upon its handle on the rock, just as
the body of the Amahagger, being under
most, hit upon its point and was transfixed
upon it. What happened to Job after that /
am sure do not know, but my own impress
sion is that he lay still upon the corpse of his
deceased assailant, 'playing 'posSum." as the
Americans say. As for myself, was soon
involved in a desperate encounter with two
rufflans, who luckily Cor me, had left their
spears behind them and for the first time In
my life the great physical power with which
nature has endowed mo stood me in good
stead. / had hacked at the head Of one man
with my hunting knife, which was almost as
big and heavy as q short sword, with such
vigor that the sharp steel had split his skull
down to the eyes and was held SO fast by II
that as he suddenly fell sideways the knife
was twisted right out of my hand.
Then it was that the two others sprung
upon me- saw them coming, and got al
arm round the waist Of each, and down we al
fell upon the floor Of the cave together, roll
ing over and over They were strong men
but was mad with rage and that awful lust
for slaughter, which will creep into the heart:
Of the most civilized Of us when blows arc
flying and life and death tremble on the turn
My arms were round the two swarthy
demons, and Rugged them till heard theil
ribs crack and crunch up beneath my grip
They twisted and writhed like snakes, anG
clawed and battered at me with their fists
but held on. Lying on my back there, sc
chat their bodies should protect me from
spear thrusts from above, / slowly crushed
the life out of them, and as l did SO, strange
as it may seem, l thought Of what the ami
able head of my college at Cambridge and
my brother fellows would say if by clairvoy
ance they could see me, of oil men, playing
such g bloody game. Soon my assailanti
grew faint and almost ceased to struggle
their breath had left them and they were
dying. but still | dare not leave them, fol
they died very slowly. / knew that il re
Taxed my grip they would revive. The Other
rufians probably thought-for we were al
three lying In the shadow of the ledge-that
we were all dead together; at any rate they
did not interfere with our little tragedy.
turned my head, and as / lay gasping ii
the throes of that awful struggle could SCI
J that leo was off the rock now, for the lamr
light fell full upon him. He was still on his
feet, but in the center of surging mass O.
struggling men, who were striving to pull
him down as wolves pull down stag. UI
above them lowered his beautiful pale face
crowned with its bright curls for Leo was
six feet two high, and / saw that he wa:
lighting with desperate abandonment AND
energy that was at once splendid and hdeou:
to behold. He drove his knife through one
man-they were SO close to him and mixed uI
with him that they could not get at him tC
kill him with their big spears and they bad
no knives or sticks. The man fell, and Their
somehow the knife was wrenched from hi:
hand, leaving him defenseless, and thought
the end had come. But no; with desperate
effort he broke loose from them, seized the
body Of the man he had just slain, and lifting
it high in the air hurled it right at the mob Of
his assailants, SO that the shock and weight Of
it swept some live or six more Of them to tho
earth But in minute they were all uI
| n ora;n exoapt ono yvhoSa slyY,1l xvac cmoshad